Technical Textile Market Overview by Global and Indian Perspective

Technical textile (TT) is reported to be the fastest growing sector of the textile industrial sector. Technical Textiles are nothing but textile material and products manufactured primarily for their technical and performance properties rather than their decorative or aesthetic properties.

Global Perspective

The technical textile market is estimated at USD 165.51 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach USD 203.7 billion by 2022, at CAGR of 5.89% from 2017. The global market is projected to display a growth represented by a CAGR of 4.9% from 2018 to 2023.

The US is the largest market for consumption of technical textile products by share of 23% followed by Western Europe, China, and Japan with a share of 22%, 13%, and 7% respectively.

The rest of the world accounts for 35% share in the consumption of technical textile. Countries such as China, India, and Brazil are expected to witness brisk growth in the technical textiles market.

The major export market for US companies is are Vietnam, India, Taiwan, and Brazil. Korea and Taiwan are also emerging as a strong competitor to the US.

Clothtech, Packtech, and Agrotech have the largest share of the global technical textiles market. In terms of investment potential, Non-woven, Composites, Fibers and Meditech segments account for around 75% of the investments in the sector.

Further, the rapid growth of the automobile industry and the growing acceptance of geotextiles is expected to increase the growth of Mobiltech and Geotech.

Indian Perspective

India is at the backstage of the growth trajectory wherein it is expected that the demand for Technical Textile products will increase exponentially. Technical textiles currently contribute around 0.75% of India’s GDP and account for around 12% of the Indian textile market, which is less as compared to the other developing countries like China where technical textiles account for 20% of the total textile industry.

India’s technical textiles market size accounts for around 4% share in the world’s market. As per the baseline survey of the Technical Textile industry carried out by the Ministry of Textiles, Technical Textile industry in India is estimated to grow to Rs 1,16,217 crore by 2017-18 at 12% CAGR. It is estimated that the domestic market is likely to reach at Rs 2,00,823 crore by 2020-21with CAGR of 20%.

In addition, there are several multinational large players in technical textiles like Johnson & Johnson, Du Pont, Procter & Gamble, 3M, SKAPs, Kimberly Clark, Ahlstrom, Maccaferri, Strata, and Terram etc. who have set up their manufacturing facilities in India.

Large textile houses like Arvind Limited and Welspun are now focusing to develop strong technical textiles businesses.

Market Size of Technical Textile in India

The Technical Textile industry currently contributes to just around 0.75% of the total GDP of India at current prices. The Technical Textile industry contributes to roughly 12% of Indian textile Industry at present which is very less compared to other developing countries like China where Technical Textile Industry accounts for around 20% of the textile sector.

Exports from Technical Textile of India was estimated at around US$1.7 billion in 210-17 which has grown from US$1.2 billion in 2012-2013 at CAGR of 15%. India exports these products mainly to USA, UAE, Indonesia, China &UK.

Results For India

Employment growth: 1.2% (12.7% in textile alone)

GDP growth: 1%( US$12bn)

Export growth:63.5%(US$8.9bn)

Imports fell by 19%( some positive results for India US$ 0.7bn)

Domestic consumption increase by 6.8% (us$3.1bn) in textile India has a lot of scopes to grow in this sector. Europe and China occupy 75% share of global market production while India accounts only around 4%. Also the per capita consumption is 1.7 per kg vis-àvis 10-12 kg in developed countries. India still has a long way to go. To make the Indian TT industry globally competitive, dual policy needs to be adopted for exports as well as domestic markets. The TT industry is expected to expand at CAGRof 13.11 % during FY18-23 to US$32 billion in FY23.

Conclusion

In order to meet the target FY23 from the current position, India has to bring investment in infrastructure, technology, R&D and standardization. It is hoped that India will be able to take a advantage of opportunities in this arena which will pave the path for a successful future. For taking India a step forward, we have to focus more on R&D. It can be only achieved by the active participation of government and industrial assets. We should focus on the following points:
-R&D centers for technical textiles.
-Investment in new innovations.
-Attractive policies and scheme for startups.
-Encouraging collaboration with foreign companies.